Father Patricio Alfredo Sánchez Molinari, a Redemptorist priest in Guayaquil, Ecuador, died on Saturday, October 17, 2026, after a falling cross struck his head while he was celebrating Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. The large wooden crucifix came loose from the wall behind the altar about 27 minutes into the livestreamed service.
The Archdiocese of Guayaquil confirmed his death in a statement dated October 17 and signed by Cardinal Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera. The service was being livestreamed on Facebook, and the accident was captured on video, according to the Spanish news agency EFE.
Falling cross caught on a livestreamed Mass
According to EFE, the priest was streaming the service from his personal Facebook account. He was standing at the altar during the ceremony when the crucifix came loose and fell forward. Women attending Mass immediately went to help him, and people can be heard asking someone to call an ambulance.
Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo reported that, during his reflection shortly before the accident, Sánchez Molinari had urged worshippers to make time for God and their loved ones rather than becoming consumed by work and financial concerns. “One day, all of us who are here are going to die, and sometimes the time we have spent on things does not make as much sense as the time we spend on God,” he said, according to the newspaper (translated from Spanish).
Some international outlets reported that he died at the scene. The archdiocese’s statement, however, did not specify whether he died inside the church or after receiving medical attention. It also provided no details about the cross’s condition or the mechanism securing it to the wall.
Metro Ecuador reported that there is still no official conclusion about why the falling cross came loose, and that it is not known whether the crucifix had prior damage or whether its installation will undergo a technical review. None of the reports CPM reviewed mentioned an investigation announced by the archdiocese or by local authorities.
Viewer discretion: the video linked below shows the accident and may be distressing.
Archdiocese confirms the priest’s death
In its statement, the archdiocese identified Sánchez Molinari as the pastor of Perpetual Help Church in its central vicariate. It offered prayers for him and expressed solidarity with the Redemptorist community, his relatives and his friends.
The statement confirms his death but does not resolve the circumstances surrounding the cross’s mounting or the precise place where he died. Those questions remain open in the reporting available to CPM.
Who was Father Patricio Sánchez Molinari?
Sánchez Molinari was born in Cuenca in 1973, according to El Universo. He belonged to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, whose members are commonly known as Redemptorists.
Founded in 1732 by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, the congregation carries out pastoral and missionary work in countries around the world. The devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, for whom his Guayaquil church is named, has a longstanding association with the Redemptorists.
El Universo noted that the archdiocese had publicly congratulated him on his priestly anniversary just a day before the accident, on Friday, October 16.
San Lorenzo Parish in Vinces, in Los Ríos province, also offered condolences. Sánchez Molinari had served that community as pastor for several years. Its message remembered his dedication and pastoral care, according to El Universo.
Tributes and a memorial Mass
Footage of the falling cross circulated widely on social media Sunday, October 18. Other churches and Catholic educational institutions in Ecuador expressed grief and sent condolences to the priest’s relatives and friends, according to EFE.
The Redemptorists and the Archdiocese of Guayaquil announced a memorial Mass for 9 p.m. Sunday, October 18, at the same church on José Mascote and Maldonado streets, El Universo reported. The time is local to Guayaquil.
Earlier on Sunday, at the 9 a.m. Mass in the same church, a priest identified only as Father Pedro asked parishioners not to read the accident as a religious sign. “The symbol of the cross fell on him. The symbol is not Christ; it is the cross,” he said, according to El Universo (translated from Spanish). The newspaper also reported that his body was taken to the forensic medicine office, that a novena for him began Sunday at 7 p.m., and that details of the wake and funeral had not yet been announced.
His death comes seven months after another tragedy involving Catholic clergy in Guayas province. On March 13, priests Alfonso Avilés and Pedro Anzoátegui drowned in General Villamil Playas while trying to rescue an altar server during a Lenten retreat, according to the National Catholic Reporter.
What remains to be clarified
The archdiocese has confirmed Sánchez Molinari’s death, and the livestream captured the falling cross during Saturday’s service. What remains unclear is exactly where he died and what caused the cross to detach from the wall.
American English adaptation of Cubanos por el Mundo’s original Spanish report, which attributes the account to the archdiocese, EFE and El Universo.